18 comments:

I vote for Caillebotte. I remember seeing the one of the men sanding the floor somewhere and looking at it for a long time, it's just one of those really cool slice-of-life moments that I find really honest but beautiful.

Caillebotte. I have tried so hard to be interested in big primary colored metal abstract sculptures and failed so miserably that I now have a knee-jerk adverse reaction to them. Also, Caillebotte's pictures are beautiful.

Huh. Well, Caillebotte is certainly good. Nice solid Impressionism (is that an oxymoron, solid Impressionism?). And Calder's work looks dated. His big outdoor sculptures are the type that when kids see and ask "what is that?" I always say "that is ART!" Or, when seeing one while on a walk I can't help but say, "Oh, look, art!" A friend called the style "giant paperclip art". On the other hand, I have some nostalgia about his mobiles, which I remember seeing at the Albright Knox since I was very young. So, all in all, Caillebotte was obviously talented but doesn't really stand out among all the really great Impressionists, while Calder stands out even when you have to explain it is "art". Vote for Calder.

I really like Caillebotte, but since I got to see the big Calder show at the Seattle Art Museum maybe a couple of years ago I have a much keener appreciation of what Calder was up to. Engineer as magician as acrobat, he's the original organic machine balancing act, the guy who set sculpture in motion. Calder for me.

I'm going with Caillebotte, for similar reasons as margaret. Truth is, I find this a surprisingly strong matchup, as Calder's mobiles are kind of groovy and, though out of fashion at the moment, his big metal sculptures reflect a moment when art was trying to be big, goofy, fun, accessible, and civic. I respect the impulse there, even as it makes me melancholy that the idea never really "took." Those Caillebotte floor sanders, on the other hand, are like Degas minus the ballerinas, which is to say awesome.

Caillebotte! Besides his use of light (if it's not insufferable to say), I like the way the first one looks like a snapshot his friend took because he was bored while the subject stood at the window checking out whatever women happened to be crossing the street. Plus, the floor strippers, which I believe I already admired, are amazing.

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